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Ultrasounds that produce video-quality moving images of the foetus have changed the debate about late-term abortion and is challenging current regulations, an Australian ethics expert says.

Senior law lecturer Dr Kristin Savell, of the University of Sydney, says so-called 4D ultrasound technology has "democratised foetal imagery" by giving the public direct visual access to realistic images.

The deputy director of the Centre for Health Governance, Law and Ethics says these images have prompted a change in the language of the abortion debate with a greater focus on the "personhood" of the foetus.

"The 4D images have been used by opponents of abortion to reinforce the complexity of the sentient foetus and attention has persistently been drawn to the behavioural capacities of the foetus from around 18 weeks," she writes in the Journal of Law and Medicine.

In 3D ultrasounds the same soundwaves are used, but are sent down at many different angles enabling a life-like still image to be produced.

With 4D ultrasounds there's the added dimension of time, so a video of the foetus can be viewed in real time.

Savell says the 4D scans produce images that are like photographs of newborns and features such as eyes, faces and lips are recognisable to people without medical training.

"The idea that you can see a face and facial features is very central to how we understand ourselves," she says.

"I was intrigued by the power of the visual and how it is impacting on the public debate."

Lobbying for a change in the law

Savell says people who have wanted to tighten the regulations surrounding late-term abortion in the UK and the US have used the technology to argue their case.

Savell highlights the arguments used by UK Conservative MP Nadine Dorries in October last year when she introduced a Private Member's Bill into the House of Commons seeking to reduce the time limit for legal termination of a pregnancy on non-exceptional grounds from 24 to 21 weeks.

Dorries said "many doctors think the foetus is sentient, that is conscious, from 18 weeks".

Savell says this is a reference to an ongoing debate within the medical community about the point after which a foetus is aware and may experience pain.

Dorries added: "Many of us have seen scanned pictures in the newspapers showing the smiles, the thumb-sucking and the kicking and it is hard to disagree".

Savell says in this way 4D technology is being used to validate the sentience claim by "demonstrating" foetal responsiveness.

She says similar attempts to change US legislation have also sought validation of a tighter anti-abortion stance by reference to the 4D technology.

No changes yet

The debate has not yet led to changes in abortion regulation, she says, except in the US where the Supreme Court upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act 2003 last year.

This in effect did not deny women the right to an abortion, but outlawed a type of abortion procedure on the grounds it was "brutal and inhumane" to the foetus.

Savell says if the notion of "personhood" of the foetus gains greater hold within the community, this could force a cultural and political rethink of abortion laws.

"The power of the visual is legion and it seems to be having an impact on how the public is debating the issue," she says.